


gold rush

by potterthepoltergeist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Attempt at Humor, Boys In Love, Dorks in Love, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Falling In Love, Fanfiction, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gay, Gay Character, Gay Male Character, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Humor, Idiots in Love, Love, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Mutual Pining, Not Beta Read, Pining, and remus is a softie, and yes this is based on evermore, haha don't ask it's a good album, idfk man, lily and remus have some major "oh shit" moments, no beta we die like men and women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28102908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potterthepoltergeist/pseuds/potterthepoltergeist
Summary: the marauders return to hogwarts for their seventh year, and everything is exactly the same - and yet, at the same time, everything's different. (especially between a certain pureblood rebel and a certain sarcastic werewolf.)"-Prongs, what the hell am I going to do when I see him?""To be honest, Pads, I have no fucking clue.""This is why I never should've taken relationship advice from you."
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Peter Pettigrew/Tiny Quiches, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 95





	1. hair falling into place like dominoes

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: unfortunately, all of these characters belong to jkr. however, i have taken the liberty of adding some lgbt+ into the mix because who doesn't love a little spice?
> 
> *i do not support rowling's views on the transgender community*

The library wasn't too crowded today; most of the students were still in denial about the obscene amount of homework assigned in the first two weeks of school. Remus, though, had never been one of those people and was diligently scanning his first draft of a charms essay for grammatical errors when Sirius slid into the seat across from him. The werewolf tried to maintain an aloof air, but after several seconds of drumming his fingers on the desk and obnoxiously loud whistling, he was forced to look up. "Can I help you?" Remus asked dryly.

Sirius smirked, and he pushed down the flutter in his stomach. "As a matter of fact, you can."

"As a matter of fact, I am busy."

"As a matter of fact, I don't think you really are," Sirius quipped. "That essay isn't due until next week, Moony."

He almost smiled at the affectionate nickname. Almost. "Actually, it's due tomorrow."

Irritatingly enough, the other boy didn't so much as bat an eye. "Yeah, well, I'll do it later."

"Later meaning five minutes before class."

"You know me too well." This time, Remus couldn't quell the flutter.

"And in any case," Sirius continued, leaning back into his seat and moving to kick his feet up onto the table before Madame Pince swooped in like an eagle, and he set them on the floor. "I'd honestly much rather talk to you."

Fuck, this was too much.

"And I'd honestly much rather complete my assignments on time." Remus struggled to get the words out properly. They weren't exactly the truth, after all.

Sirius cocked his head like a sad puppy. "At least come to the common room? I swear, Pince is going to claw my eyes out if I spend another second in here."

A laugh bubbled up from Remus's throat before he could stifle it. "Yeah, alright." The mischievous glimmer in Sirius's eyes was more than enough to increase his heart rate.

"Fantastic."

~~~

A book whizzed past his head and slid into place on a nearby shelf as he strode into the library. His eyes instantly fell on Remus, sitting at a far table alone, chewing on the end of his quill. Not a minute later, and he was sitting there, too. Sirius could tell Remus was trying not to look up; his lips pursed, and he exhaled loudly through his nostrils, and  _ finally,  _ after too much whistling, said, "Can I help you?"

Sirius smirked in a way that he so hoped was charming and not douchey. He hadn't spent hours practicing it in the mirror for nothing. "As a matter of fact, you can."

"As a matter of fact, I'm busy."

"As a matter of fact, I don't think you really are," he replied. Remus quirked an eyebrow, the one with the thin little scar running through its tail. Oh, gods. "That essay isn't due until next week, Moony."

Something tugged at the corner of Remus's lips before he said, "Actually, it's due tomorrow."

Shit, really? Whatever. "Yeah, well, I'll do it later."

"Later meaning five minutes before class."

"You know me too well." Remus's eyes widened just a fraction, and for a split-second, Sirius thought he might have actually done it. Until he decided to kick his feet up on the table and the appearance of Madame Pince ruined the whole perfect thing. "And in any case-" did he dare be so bold? "-I'd honestly much rather talk to you."

"And I'd honestly much rather complete my assignments on time." Fuck, he was making this so hard.

"At least come to the common room?" Sirius pleaded. " I swear, Pince is going to claw my eyes out if I spend another second in here."

Remus laughed, and he could have sworn it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. "Yeah, alright."

The grin that slid onto Sirius's face was impossible to stop. "Fantastic."

~~~

"Are you seriously going to do that?"

"Moony-"

"Don't say it."

"I'm always Sirius."

Remus had been coaxed away from his parchment and inkpot and coerced into several rounds of wizards' chess. Why Sirius would ever want to play it, he didn't know, because as bad as Remus was at the game, Sirius was worse.

"Okay, then checkmate."

"Fuck."

"Well, that was fun and all, but again: charms essay." He went for his quill before Sirius laid two unexpectedly gentle fingers on his wristbone. It felt like a butterfly had landed on his arm, and  _ oh gods _ . The bright red flush that spread from their spot could not have been more obvious.

"One more game?"

"You said that five games ago."

"Rem, come on."

Fucking  _ Merlin _ , Sirius couldn't know what that nickname  _ did _ to him.

"You've lost every game."

"Maybe I'll win this one." The other boy crossed his arms, and Remus realized (with no small amount of nervousness) that up until now, Sirius's fingers hadn't left his wrist.

"You idiot."

"So that's a yes."

Yes, it was. "Not necessarily."

"Be prepared for defeat."

~~~

"Are you seriously going to do that?"

Well, with the perfect setup: "Moony-"

"Don't say it."

"I'm always Sirius." The affectionate eye-roll Remus sent his way was well worth the overused pun.

"Okay, then checkmate."

"Fuck."

"Well, that was fun and all, but again: charms essay." Then he got up to leave, and Sirius couldn't let that happen so-

His fingers brushed the freckled skin on Remus's wrist, and a lovely pink blush bloomed across it almost instantaneously, and oh, that was worth  _ so much more _ than an eye-roll. The other boy's eyes widened even more than in the library, enough so you could see every brilliant amber fleck. Sirius swallowed hard and mustered, "One more game?"

"You said that five games ago."

"Rem, come on." That beautiful blush intensified, and Sirius was utterly screwed.

"You've lost every game."

"Maybe I'll win this one." It took all of his willpower to move his fingers from their new favorite spot and cross his arms.

"You idiot."

"So that's a yes."

"Not necessarily."

"Be prepared for defeat."


	2. anticipating my face in a red flush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> remus and sirius have a chat, lily confides in one of her best friends, and sirius confides in his brother.

"What the hell is going on in your head?"

"I'm just saying," Sirius cried in the kind of tone that only made his exasperation all the more endearing. "If tea stains your teeth over time, why can't milk?"

"Because it doesn't have all the highly pigmented herbs that would-"

"Moony, you think too much," he groaned, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes.

"Someone's got to compensate for your two braincells," Remus quipped back. Their banter came easy; barely thoughts, no unpredictable feelings getting in the way. It was just banter. At least, that was what he kept telling himself.

Sirius fell back onto his neatly made duvet and stared at the crimson curtains, half parted to let streams of afternoon sunlight through. The boy's black curls fanned out around his head perfectly for such an impromptu lie-down, and  _Remus, why the hell are you thinking about that right now?_ Sirius was quiet for a long time, long enough for the comfortable silence to turn uncomfortable.

And then, he said simply, "Do you fancy anyone, Moony?" and Remus was choking on air.

"Why- um, why do you ask?" he managed, looking down at the sheets and feeling his face grow hot with mortification. This was what it must feel like to implode in on yourself like a dying star. It was, altogether, an extremely unpleasant sensation.

But Sirius, thank fuck, was still staring at the drapes when Remus finally mustered up the courage to glance up again at his friend. And the barest hint of a furrow had creased his eyebrows. "No reason."

~~~

"What the hell is going on in your head?"

Sirius bit the inside of his cheek, hard, to keep from laughing. "I'm just saying, if tea stains your teeth over time, why can't milk?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Because it doesn't have all the highly pigmented herbs that would-"

"Moony, you think too much." And Sirius could have easily predicted the next words out of the other boy's mouth.

"Someone's got to compensate for your two braincells." There it was.

He flopped back onto his duvet and let his eyes travel over the curtains. It was as good a time as any to say something. James wouldn't be back from patrol with Lily until gods-know-when, and Peter had snuck down to the kitchens to satisfy his eternal hunger for those tiny quiches that the house-elves always made. 

Except there was the very horrible possibility that he'd stumble over the words, and the world would go to shit. So Sirius settled for: "Do you fancy anyone, Moony?" and then Remus looked like air wasn't coming too easy anymore.

"Why- um, why do you ask?" Remus took an interest in the sheets, and the bright flush that flooded his cheeks highlighted all of his freckles, and Sirius had to tense his whole body up to stop himself from leaping up and kissing every single one. But he turned back to the drapes before the other could see and mumbled, "No reason."

~~~

"I like him so fucking much, Lily," Remus moaned, sliding down the stone wall with his face in his hands. She patted his shoulder patronizingly and gave him a half-smile that he didn't return. "I know how you feel."

Remus wasn't sure whether to laugh or not.

"No, I really do. I, um-" Lily tugged at the ends of her long red hair, glancing down at the polished Head Girl badge on her lapel. "Please don't make me say it out loud."

"Holy shit."

"Remus, nobody else knows, so you can't tell-"

"Holy _shit_. "

"I know." Lily rubbed her hands up and down his arms. "That was my reaction, too."

~~~

"I like him so fucking much, James," Sirius grinned, running a hand through his hair the same way his brother always did. James nudged him and matched their grins. "Now you know how I feel."

Sirius laughed a breathy laugh and shook his head disbelievingly. "Really, it's like- gods, I can't even explain it."

"I know."

"It's like he could literally do _anything_ , and I would still just be..."

"I know."

They smiled at each other and kept down the corridor.


	3. and then it fades into the gray of my day-old tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> remus and sirius are in crisis, james gives terrible relationship advice, and lily just wants everyone to get their shit together.

"Oi, what's this?" Remus lifted up the mug and glanced over at Sirius questioningly.

"I made tea for you," he replied without looking up from his parchment. (He'd finally started doing his own essays for once.) "I know you always want some at night. Earl Grey, splash of milk-"

"-no sugar." The werewolf let a small smile creep onto his face. "Cheers, Padfoot."

"No problem."

Remus sat down on the couch beside Sirius, who had twisted his hair into a bun and stabbed it with his wand. A few curly strands hung loosely around his cheekbones. And his eyes were tracking the words he'd written, deep in concentration. And Remus was letting himself get distracted again. 

Sirius furrowed his brows. "This is for Herbology, right?"

"That one was due ages ago. This one's for DADA."

"Shit." Sirius crumpled his parchment into a ball and tossed it into the fireplace. "And I'd just finished the last paragraph, too."

"Maybe you should've asked that important question before doing it," Remus mumbled before taking a sip of his tea. Earl Grey, splash of milk, no sugar. Just the way he liked it. "Hey, Pads, when did you-"

"Moony, I was wondering-"

Oh, fucking  _ hell _ .

They turned to look at each other at the same time, their faces inches apart. Sirius's silver eyes went wide, wide enough that every catch of moonlight from the window behind Remus reflected in his eyes, and his cheeks tinged pink, and his lips were just barely parted, and they were so close that Remus could smell the mint on his breath, and everything was not okay. It was so, so, so fucking  _ not okay _ that Remus all but leaped from the couch, spluttered out something along the lines of "bathroom- use- bye!" and sprinted up to the dormitories.

~~~

"Oi, what's this?" The gentle scrape of a mug lifting from wood told Sirius all he needed to know.

"I made tea for you. I know you always want some at night. Earl Grey, splash of milk-"

"-no sugar," Remus finished for him. "Cheers, Padfoot."

"No problem."

Suddenly, Sirius was acutely aware of the other boy's presence next to him on the couch, and it was so hard not to look out of the corner of his eyes at the way he was gnawing on his lower lip. And at that perfect little scar that crossed the bridge of his nose. And then Sirius was letting himself get distracted again. So he furrowed his brow and forced his mind to focus on something other than Remus. "This is for Herbology, right?"

"That one was due ages ago. This one's for DADA."

"Shit." He crumpled up the parchment into a ball and tossed it into the fireplace, watching it shrivel up and blacken into ash. "And I'd just finished the last paragraph, too."

Sirius could feel Remus smiling. "Maybe you should've asked that important question before doing it."

They sat in silence for a second. Then: "Moony, I was wondering-"

"Hey, Pads, when did you-"

Oh, fucking  _ hell _ .

They had turned to each other at the same time, and they were only inches apart now. Remus's eyes grew so large that you could see every flicker from the fire reflected in amber and gold flecks, and his freckles were highlighted by the furious blush flooding his cheeks, and his lips were parted with shock, and they were so close that Sirius could smell the tea on his breath, and the room felt much, much too hot. And then, before he could do anything other than open and close his mouth like a blubbering goldfish, Remus jumped up from the couch, stuttered out a few unintelligible words, and fled.

~~~

"-and I am in  _ crisis _ , Lily, and oh gods, what the hell am I supposed to say when I see him next? That we just-"

Lily clamped her hand over his mouth (no easy feat, considering the fact that he was almost two heads taller than her). "You need to get your shit together, Remus Lupin, and if that means confessing your fucking feelings, then so help me God, it will be the last thing I ever force you to do."

He took one look at her stern glare and nodded.

"There." Her demeanor switched from lecturing teacher to close friend in a second, stuffing her hand back into her coat pocket. "Now it's your turn to hear me rant about Potter."

"We've got a good thing going for us, haven't we?"

"Yes, quite. So we were doing rounds in the corridors two nights ago, and-"

~~~

"-and I am in  _ crisis _ , Prongs, because I know that I've been all obvious and flirty like you told me, but I never expected that I'd get this far! And then he just- just ran out! What the hell am I going to do when I see him?"

James pushed his glasses up his nose with his knuckle, the way he always did when he was deep in thought. "To be honest, I have no fucking clue."

"This is why I never should've taken relationship advice from you."


	4. so inviting, i almost jump in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> remus and sirius have yet another chat, and shit comes together all around.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, Lily, he's coming, he's- what do I-"

"For fuck's sake, Remus."

"No, where are you-"

Lily stormed out through the portrait hole, leaving Remus sitting alone at his wooden table. He threaded a hand through his hair and tugged until the other boy entered his peripheral vision.

Sirius took three tentative steps towards him and gave an awkward little wave. "Hey, Moony."

Remus resisted the urge to sink into his seat. "Hey, Pads."

"How are you-"

"I'm fine!" he interrupted, a little louder than he'd meant to. A third year in the corner shot him a strange look. "Doing just fine."

Sirius anxiously twisted his fingers together. His thin rings glinted silver when they caught the light. "Can we talk?"

Remus swallowed hard and nodded.

~~~

"No, where are you-" Remus's voice grew louder as the portrait hole flew open, and Lily Evans brushed past him. "You'd better sort him out," she muttered before descending a staircase. Even when it detached itself from the opposite platform and swung across to another, she didn't sway.

Sirius took a deep breath and walked through the entrance. Remus was alone at a table, ripping his hair out and staring at the wood grain. He took a few steps forward and waved. "Hey, Moony."

The werewolf glanced up at him with mild misery. "Hey, Pads."

"How are you-"

"I'm fine!" Remus cried, and a student in the corner shot them a weird look. "Doing just fine."

Sirius glanced down at his hands. It was much harder than it should've been to move his eyes back up. "Can we talk?"

He couldn't help but notice the way Remus's adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed.

~~~

"About yesterday."

They were sitting on Remus's bed, and his legs were crossed, and he was staring uncomfortably at some indeterminate point over Sirius's left shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Sirius mumbled. "I didn't- nevermind." But then Remus worked up the small bit of courage required to prod him in the knee. Their eyes met for one pained moment. "Say it."

"What?"

"Whatever you were going to say."

"I don't-"

"Sirius, please."

All of their words would tumble out within seconds, followed by hour-long silences filled with the weight of everything they'd always wanted to have but never imagined they could. They sat on the bed, and picked at loose threads on Remus's duvet, and stewed in their own suffocating thoughts until there were no more thoughts to fall into. Until the only thoughts left were ones of each other.

"I didn't know what to say," Sirius admitted after what felt like a year.

"Yeah, I think that much was obvious."

"No, no, I just meant- I didn't know what to say because I didn't think I'd get this far because it just sort of... caught me off guard." The end of his sentence came out as more of a question than he'd have liked.

Remus picked at a scar that swirled around his knuckles. "What do you mean 'get this far?'"

"I mean that James tried to help me, and I was stupid enough to let him."

"Okay, but what-"

"Oh my gods, Moony," Sirius cried, shoving his face into the pillow. "Are you actually serious?"

Remus managed a weak laugh. "Thought you were Sirius."

"No," Sirius sat up again and glared at him. "I'm just a person with a wonderful, beautiful, unbelievably  _ oblivious _ friend who he really wanted to kiss last night, but now that's probably never going to happen because he's taken advice from his whipped brother and been a total idiot about this whole thing."

Oh.

_ Oh. _

"Why didn't you say anything?" Remus's voice cracked in the middle of his words, and Sirius was taken aback. "What do you even- I dropped, like, a million hints!"

They stared at each other for another moment, and it shouldn't have been comical, but it was, and it took less than a second for Remus to burst out laughing with delirious shock, and it took about two for Sirius to follow suit.

"I can't believe- you never even-"

"So we've been going on like this for-"

It took about five seconds for them to both be lying on the bed in fits of giggles, and it took about five minutes for them to stop.

And it took about three seconds for them to realize that they were side by side, facing each other again, and there was no one else in the room, and it would be  _ so easy _ to just do everything they never imagined they could.

"Can I kiss you?" Remus whispered.

The corners of Sirius's mouth curved up ever so slightly, and he breathed, "Yeah."

~~~

It was the gentlest thing in the world.

It was timid and careful and small at the start, and it was so terribly perfect that  _ of course _ that was how Remus Lupin kissed. Soft and deliberate in a way that filled Sirius's chest with warmth and made him feel like absolutely nothing else existed. And nothing else did exist, not for several blissful, too-short moments until Remus broke away and into a shy smile. Their foreheads fell together automatically. "You're amazing."

Sirius bumped their noses. "No, you."

"Don't even start with that-"

"Oh my gods, you  _ guys _ ." James burst into the dormitory, the wooden door slamming against the wall. His hair was thoroughly rumpled like it had undergone even more tousling than usual, and his eyes darted wildly around the room as if he didn't quite know where to look. "Lily just asked me out. Lily Evans, the most wonderful witch to grace this planet, just fucking  _ asked me _ -"

"Shit, I nearly forgot," Sirius propped himself up with his elbow. "Want to go to Hogsmeade with me, Moony?"

Remus raised an eyebrow, that same one with the scar through its tail, the same one that he raised a hundred times a day, and smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do."

**Author's Note:**

> leave a kudos or comment if you enjoyed! they really motivate me <3  
> and don't forget to drop by my tumblr! (potter-the-poltergeist.tumblr.com)


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